


A Companion Gained!

by TentacleBubbles



Category: Original Work
Genre: Abel was such an interesting character, Angels, Fantasy, Fantasy World, First Meetings, Gen, I COULDN'T HELP IT, Magic, Open ended?, Reincarnation, gods and worship, implied Han/Leigh, maybe even a fave?, not my characters, technically left a mystery there too, the start of an adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21899581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TentacleBubbles/pseuds/TentacleBubbles
Summary: Alternate title: A Home Found Before You Knew ItSummary: Han finds; a new set of ruins, a book someone lost, a multipurpose stone tablet, and someone he’d been missing.(A story done for AO3 epinephrine's OCs and world!)
Relationships: Han & Leigh
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	A Companion Gained!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [epinephrine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/epinephrine/gifts).



> I hope I did your characters justice!! Please enjoy!

It was a nice day to stop a seal from breaking, all things considered.

The sun shone down gently on Han’s back as he walked along, following the signs of another gate that shouldn’t be opened being tampered with.

The ruins this time was vast, rooms and walls toppled over each other long ago. The flora of the area had completely taken over the place, roots and vines stabilizing the crumbling infrastructure in some places and completely destroying it in others. Beneath the skin of the earth thrummed a nervous energy, calling out to him in warning.

The angel did his best to soothe their worry, patting moss-covered ruins and tree roots as he passed by them. Walking deeper and deeper into the labyrinthine ruins, it took a long while for Han to come across the source of the disturbance. And what should he find?

A small group of mortals, performing a spell they most likely found in this particular set of ruins and decided to try out. They seemed to be part of the local tribe, a bunch of teenagers out exploring.

They were gathered around the bare essentials of a magic circle, with a smooth stone tablet sitting in the middle. One of them was reading off of a thin, old book, pausing when Han stumbled upon them.

For a long, stilled moment, they all just stared at each other, surprised.

Han blinked, then smiled innocently.

“May I ask, what’s happening here?” he walked forward, into the large cavern they found themselves in.

One of the people straightened out from where they were crouched over the stone tablet, in the middle of a circle of candles.

“We’re kind of doing a ritual here,” they said, eyeing Han suspiciously. “Are you going to stop us?”

“I suppose that depends,” Han shrugged. “What are you doing the ritual for?”

The people gathered around the circle exchanged glances. The one who spoke before looked back at Han.

“We want to see what it does,” they shrugged back. “We think we can use it as an energy source for one of the Old Giants.”

Han wanted to sigh. Curiosity had always been admirable, especially in mortals. But there were some things that were better explored in theory and not so much in practice.

“I can tell you for sure that it won’t do what you think it will do,” Han said plainly, “so it’d be best to stop.”

“Wait, I want to see if they can activate it,” a voice came from the tops of the cavern, redirecting everyone’s attention.

From between stone and treetops, a figure came bounding down, dropping lightly a few feet away from the circle of teens.

They had long, unruly hair, dark skin and an open, honest face. Their clothes were slightly dirtied, no doubt from sneaking around the nooks and crannies of the ruins. They had a cheeky grin, directed at Han.

“Wha – how long have you been up there!?” One of the teens exclaimed, the one holding the book.

“Since you got here, of course,” the stranger said. “I was hoping to borrow the book after you’re done.”

“Who says we’ll let you borrow the book?” the teen holding it waved the book about. “This is a sacred text you know! We found it deep in the ruins!”

The stranger dusted himself off leisurely. He turned towards Han.

“Are you _sure_ it won’t work?” he asked.

“Not how they want it to,” Han found himself saying easily.

The stranger nodded at his words, seemingly taking it at face value. Han couldn’t figure out _why_ he did, though.

“Come on, are you even reading it right?” the stranger rolled his eyes, walking closer to the group. They tensed, their ritual completely halted.

Han watched them, bemused. He knew he should be stopping them, but something made him pause. His own curiosity, perhaps?

“Of course we’re reading it right,” one of the teens said, frowning. “What do you know?”

“I know plenty of things,” the stranger walked closer, peering at the circle they’ve made. “For example. I know where you got your so-called sacred text.”

The teens exchanged glances again.

“You’re lying.”

The stranger shook his head solemnly.

“Not at all,” he said. “The book fell from the sky, the tablet was dug up. Your elders will get angry once they find out you were the ones who stole the tablet.”

The teens all shouted, surprised. Han himself was surprised. The book fell out of the sky? What sort of book would do that?

“How did you know that? Did you tell the elders?” one of the teens asked, worry written all over their face.

“Not yet,” the stranger grinned, unabashed as he walked the perimeter of the magic circle, looking at it very closely. The teens scrambled to get out of his way, exchanging fearful gazes.

It was all rather comical, Han thought with a bitten back smile.

“We’ll be in trouble if he does,” the teen holding the book said. They seemed to be the one leading the group, motioning for them to move aside. They set the book aside, far from the circle.

“We can’t let you tell the elders,” the leader said, taking out a knife.

That’s probably where Han should step in.

“All right, calm down,” he said, walking closer. The teens, already on edge, stepped back as he approached.

“Are you with him?” the one with the knife asked, gesturing at the stranger.

Before Han could talk, the stranger was already picking up one of the candles and blowing it out.

“He’s right, too,” the stranger said. “This won’t work the way you want it to.”

“How do you know?” Han asked before he could stop himself.

The stranger directed his grin at him, something almost… companionable in his smile.

“They’re reading the book wrong, of course,” he said, holding the book up. The teens all exclaimed, in disarray.

“What – how’d you get that!” one of them said, despite the fact that they were the one to set it down in the first place.

“Look here,” the stranger flipped through the book, stopping at a certain page. He gestured for the group to gather close, pointing at something in it. Han himself couldn’t help but peer closer.

Han only had a moment to recognize one or two characters on the page before the stranger’s grin widened and –

All the candles went out at once.

The cavern didn’t have the very best lighting to begin with, when the candles went out, they could barely see anything. The group of teens panicked, shouting and running about. It took a moment for the leader to remember a spell to make light.

By then, the stranger and Han had disappeared, along with both the tablet and the book.

\---

“Excuse me,” Han said, having to watch his steps.

The stranger had pulled him along one of the cavern’s less noticeable exits, and they now ran amongst the ruins. The stranger had both the tablet and the book cradled to his chest with one hand, the other hand still holding Han’s.

“Excuse me,” Han said again, squeezing the stranger’s hand to get his attention. “Where are we going?”

“Outside,” the stranger answered, shooting him another smile. “I promise I’m not abducting you or anything.”

Han snorted despite himself. Yes, because that was definitely the main concern here. In the meantime, he let himself be led.

They ran through the ruins in silence, a meandering path different from what Han had gone through to get in. They emerged in a different part of the ruins too – they must be on top of what used to be a palace. It had become part of a hill overlooking most of the ruins sprawled all around them, interspersed with the occasional tree dotting the grassy landscape.

Han took in the view, delighted. He’d never seen the ruins from this angle before.

He turned towards the stranger, who gave him another roguish grin.

“Like I said, outside,” he held up the book and the tablet. “You know what either of these are?”

Han looked between the two items, wondering how much he could say.

“Yes,” he started slowly.

“Oh, good. Because I don’t know what this book is. Can you tell me about it?” The stranger asked, “I promise I’ll make you dinner if you do.”

Han blinked, momentarily caught off guard. He laughed, shook his head with a good-natured smile.

“I’m afraid I’d have to see the book first,” he said, holding a hand out.

Surprisingly, the stranger tossed him the book. He then placed the tablet in his bag, swinging it over his shoulder. “Sure, we can talk about it on the way.”

“The way where?” Han caught the book with both hands, perplexed. This stranger was getting more and more intriguing.

“I know the tribe would be in trouble if their god’s tablet isn’t returned,” the stranger patted his bag, beginning to walk down the hill. “Come on.”

“So they really did steal the tablet?” Han asked, catching up to him.

“Just borrowed,” the stranger said with a laugh. “I was just talking to the elders about seeing it, actually. I guess that’s just the kind of luck I have, eh?”

He shot Han another grin and a wink. The angel had to bite back another smile.

“Are you, by chance, a spellscribe?” he ventured, piecing together the bits of information the stranger said.

This made the stranger pause, almost stopping in his tracks.

“I can’t believe I forgot to introduce myself,” he said with a laugh. “The name’s Leigh, spellscribe and adventurer. A pleasure to meet you!”

It was Han’s turn to pause. He almost felt like he’d finally found a piece of himself deep inside, with that name.

“I’m Han, just a nomad,” he said, something contemplative he quickly hid within himself.

“All right, Han, just a nomad,” Leigh gestured at the book that was still in his hands. “Can you tell me about this book?”

Han looked down on the book, oddly flustered. He opened it to a random page, trying to decipher the characters. Immediately he noticed a bit of a problem – the language in the book was similar to their own, but it was one that wasn’t supposed to exist in this world. The book was also in too good of a condition to justify having just been excavated and belonged to the ancients.

What’s more, they said it fell out of the sky.

“Where exactly did they find this?” Han said instead, glancing towards Leigh.

“From the sky, you heard them,” Leigh shrugged. “I didn’t see it, but I overheard them talking about it. Perhaps someone dropped it while flying?”

“Perhaps,” Han sighed, flipping through the book again. How exactly to get out of this one? He had a sneaking suspicion that he knew who wrote the book in the first place.

“So,” Leigh hummed, peering at Han’s face. “You know anything?”

Han blinked at him, finding himself hesitating.

“I think a friend might know more about it,” he said after a moment, closing the book. “I can’t say for sure.”

Whether or not Leigh noticed his aversion to the topic, he didn’t say.

“Can you read it?” he asked, pointing at the characters in the book.

Han shook his head, truthful. He really didn’t know how to read the old scriptures.

Leigh sighed.

“Maybe we’ll have better luck with the elders,” Leigh said, easily dropping the subject. “So, have you passed by these parts before?”

Han found it infinitely easier to talk about the land they were in, even more so with Leigh who was all too happy to swap stories with him.

Leigh had been following a meandering path along his map, taking a detour wherever his heart felt like it. He had taken his time exploring the ruins after finding out that the tribe still occasionally gathered plants from within them to use in their magic.

They talked and walked all the way to the tribe on the outskirts of the ruins, blended in the fringes of the nearby forest.

It seemed that the group of teens had not returned yet, because the elders that greeted them all looked surprised to see them. Specifically, they looked surprised to see Leigh, asking why he had returned.

Leigh explained that he had come across the group of teens looking for the missing tablet, but found it by himself.

“I don’t know who took it, only that I found it deep in the hill,” Leigh explained, handing the tablet to the tribe’s chief with a respectful nod.

The chief hurriedly looked over the tablet, inspecting it for damages. When she found none, she sighed in obvious relief.

“Thank you,” the chief said empathically. “Please, stay longer so we may give gratitude.”

Leigh grinned wide, agreeing almost immediately.

“Can my friend stay, too?” he asked, gesturing to Han.

The elders all looked at him, perhaps trying to guess where he’d come from. Han introduced himself, saying the words ‘Leigh’s friend’ coming just as naturally as hearing it.

In the end, they stayed for the next few days, bearing witness to a cleansing spell for the tablet that Leigh observed meticulously. They also bore witness to the group of teens who returned with low spirits, only to be blindsided by Han and Leigh’s insistence that they never met them in the ruins.

Han would never admit it out loud, but watching Leigh mess with them and still somehow gain their admiration was incredibly entertaining.

It was on the same day that Han and Leigh found themselves getting restless, trekking the edges of the ruins again.

Han sat on top of what must have been a tower long ago, now just a section of stairs partly held up by the roots of a tree. It had grown in a way that let Han sit at the top of the stairs, protected by the tree’s shade and free to watch the sunrise over the grassy plains.

“I see you’re waking up farther and farther from the tribe, Han just a nomad.” Leigh dropped down to sit beside him, displacing little bits of the stone stairs. If it weren’t for the tree, they would probably have fallen off with just his actions.

Han smiled despite himself.

“It’s almost time for me to go,” he said, looking back at the sunrise. 

Leigh hummed wordlessly. Then, he said, “You wouldn’t mind a handsome, roguish spellscribe tagging along, would you?”

Han… wasn’t all too surprised by the question. A part of him had almost been expecting it, like it was part of the natural progression of life. Trees grow and flowers bloom and Leigh would be with him.

An even bigger part of him _anticipated_ it, felt that it was only right that Leigh would ask. That he wanted very much to say yes.

Han’s thoughts briefly flicker back to the book they had found – after inspecting it more, Han was almost sure it was one of Abel’s. It wasn’t even a spell book – it was simply one of the records Abel kept. Perhaps it had been dropped the last time his fellow angel had visited, or it was somehow deliberately left behind by someone else.

Either way, it would be harder to return the book if he had to hide it from Leigh the whole time.

Well, not that it really mattered, when faced with Leigh’s question.

“It feels like I’ve known you for so long,” Han admitted, into the quiet of daybreak.

He felt more than saw Leigh smile, surprised but soft in understanding.

“Doesn’t it?” he said, equally as quiet.

They agreed to travel together.


End file.
